Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
So as I look at them and taking in the lore about them so far. They use dragons in their symbols and icons. With their eyes, ears, face shape, and scales they could be a bit of an orcish dragonborn which I think is a unique take on an orc race.
Big tusks
Body hair
Option for gauged ears and septum piercings
Tattoos
Greenskin
That's pretty much the only addons or adjustments I'd like to see. I really think you guys knocked it out of the park with this design.
The detail from UE5 is mind boggling. It really adds just so much depth and intricacy to each race in AoC.
This race just looks incredibly sturdy and tough. The dogged endurance shows off of the lines. Cannot wait to see more.
The eyes are an interesting choice and I think it works very well.
To me it always comes down to options. I dont want something gone, or pushed into one direction. If I have the option for X or Y it is always better than having one or the other.
I can only refer to the picture of this one Ren'kai, so of course this view is very limited and comes down to the options we have in the character creation. So far, I just can say you are moving in the right direction.
So this is more like a customization wish list.
Body types
It is weird if they all look like body builders. If someone wants to play a fat Ren'kai or a small, nimble one, that, as an option, is totally fine.
Berads
If you chose to go the route of Ren not being able to grow facial hair over their mouth that is ok, mustaches would be nice as an option though.
The example looks great and I really like the wraps. more of those, with a seperate option to chose the colour.
Add in decoration like bones or other material the Ren use as decoration
Tusks
Options for broken, repaired, coloured ones. Big, broad, very small.
Hair
Oh the possibilities. The hair looks awesome. Give us a lot of option with variations, length, decoration, dread lock style stuff and braided stuff.
Multiple hair colours, if a choice, should not be tied to one another. If there are seperate parts to be coloured dont tie them to each other (as in: part A is red so part B must be orange)
There should be an option for body hair, like chest, arms, forearms, shoulders and even back. As option.
Scars, Tattoos, Piercings
Blast us with options. Honestly, there is no "too many options" in this. If someone has an idea that is implementable, put that in. Seperate it as much as possible. Like face tattoos: You choose the first one. Would you like to add another? Y / N. Let us pick as many as possible and choose the placement. It is great to have the following options, but not great to still be limited: fully body tattoo and stuff like a sleeve for one arm but not the other. That is ok. But there should be the option (as mentioned before) to add another tattoo to the body. So that I can choose the sleeve that I want on either side.
If possible go for piercings on the usual body parts, but also on new ones. I would like to see nipple piercings, since there are awesome pictures of orcs with those. Same goes for scars. There can be scars from battle but also decorational scars. and again, let us pick the number and the placement.
Skin tone
I like the current approach, are Ren'kai able to have green, red, or bluish skin?
One thing that is weird to me: hairstyles and customization stuff like piercings, tattoos and so on: if one race has those (and those are not strickly race only) than they should be an option for other races too.
Always weird that in WoW there are hair styles, colours, tattoos and piercings, jewlery but only for that one race. Espeacially piercings and tattoos make no sense that way. Just give us the option to create the character we want to.
Another example: Humans in WoW cant have tattoos. What?
SWTOR: No beards for Cyborgs. What? If the race cant grow beards thats ok, but if the race is just an existing race with cyborg options, that makes no sense (as an example, how weird some customization restrictions are)
You guys did a really great job with the races so far. I am really really happy with your approach
They look great
Edit: After reading the Vek thread, I'd also like to suggest that the Ren'Kai colouring be less human-coloured.
That said, I think it can get mean in the face. It reminds me of playing a berserker class and I'd love to be able to customise how angry i look!
Great job so far!
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Races#Ren.27Kai
For them to always have to appear angry and threatening rather contradicts the 'Tranquility' bit.
Pros - The quality of the model is great (across the board to be fair). I like the details down to the skin texture. The muscle mass looks good.
Cons - I will echo that I think the head could be bigger to be more proportional to the body. I also wonder if we can have a thicker hair model? Not so much a criticism but more in terms of variety.
Customisation Options:
Most of the standard customisation will be expected across the board, think ears, nose, tusks, eye shape, eyebrow customisation. Tusks from more small/modest to larger protruding.
With some of the feedback about the face looking a bit soft, perhaps make the dormant expression a bit more intimidating, but a physical change could be to make the chin/jaw area a bit more square, widen it out.
Then to the body, I think controlling the overall muscle mass is enough, I personally don't feel the desire to have so much limb customisation but if you allow a range of presets that don't morph the character too much then we can have characters that fit in the world without being too out of place.
Tattoos, perhaps a slight deviation in the posture of the orc? I like to think a larger orc might be a bit more hulking but that isn't essential.
it falls to much into uncanny valley/baby face territory.
here i made a small changes via photoshop, its not perfect but side by side its way more "orc-ish":
i also made a green-skinned version, to further get away from uncanny valley.
The biggest comment I see people wanting here is body hair, and that's fine as an option, though I personally feel it's not needed. The slit pupils are cool and I wouldn't change that. This is a more unique take on orcs than I've seen lately in the fantasy genre and it's well done. When people not playing the game see these guys, they're going to know what game they're from and not confuse them with other titles.
Intrepid have said that reds and greens will be skin color choices also.
Keep going guys, it's turning out great.
I am genuinely very excited to see where this race continues developing and more and more hope when the races I am waiting for are revealed I'll be as joyous.
Its great to see old concepts that every MMO uses taken a new direction.
Mostly all. Generally, the concept remembers me WoW orcs.
Is there anything you dislike about the art direction for this race, and why?
The eyes. I have nothing against vertical pupil, but It’s felt more reptilian.
What are your thoughts on what was shown during the livestream for the Ren’Kai race?
They are nice. What is that weird thing on they skin? (I now know it’s scales) Ears look like pretty orcish. The beard is realistic.
Are there any specific Character Creator customizations you would like to see for the Ren’Kai race?
Tusk sliders and a possibility of different tusks. Sliders to have slimmer or bulky Ren’Kai. A choice of abdomen muscles (6-pack or else). Same for scales (a lot, some on back, shoulders etc.). A large choice of tattoos. The choice to choose green, brown, black skin color. I would like to have body hairs and the possibility to choose to have it on stomach, chest, legs, back.
You like big butts and you cannot lie?
But great work so far, love the outcome of the races already!
I DO NOT WANT HUGE BULKY THIGHS! I want muscles obtainable by women who are NOT on steroids, and a lean BMI but you should really really allow for a higher curvy BMI too! I also don't like being enormously taller than everyone else. As a female I should be smaller than males. Please create HUGE "Sexual Dimorphism" IN REN'KAI. The females should be smaller. If you only focus on making huge bulky women, NO REAL WOMAN WILL PLAY THE RACE AND IT WILL BE THE LEAST PLAYED OF ALL RACES. Males only choose to play Female characters when they are SEXY or CUTE.
I see the Ren'Kai have red eyes. I would only play them if I was able to choose Blue eyes and I like that you have a skin tone close to that of a human but the females should be allowed to be PINK, of various variations, from pastel rose, to SALMON (orange + pink is my favourite), to hot magenta and neon pink and to LILAC and Lavender to indigo and violet purple. And the Kai'Vek females should allow colors like teal, aquamarine, MINT Green, Seafoam, baby blue and midnight blue.
I have a new idea, that since you are able to work with textures, you should make a race with "flocked" fuzzy skin (some dolls are made this way like Calico Critters and Slyvian family animal dolls). I think this would work best for a "cute little doll" but since you aren't going that way with your miniature pygmys, you could try it on the Ren'kai. But I see that you are going with "snake" like scales. Since others mentioned body hair, I think "flocked" fur would work really well for the females. Please research this texture, when done right it is very fine and soft and fuzzy and short.
I ALWAYS perceived the GALKA of the FFXI game, as "BIG TEDDY BEARS". They were always played by the NICEST guys, the soft sweethearts who are usually fat IRL and humble and caring. I think "flocked teddy bear" and softer looks should be an option on your scale from "evil" Ren'kai. I understand that Samurai/ninja/Tank/warrior are the point to the Ren'kai but they don't need to be "evil" looking. The ARMOUR can do that.
Also, I do NOT want tusks, but if you're firm on making TUSKS a requirement for the race, please allow us to change their color from PEARLY WHITE, OPAL, to GOLD to silver, to Bronze to BLACK not just nasty yellow! Also you need to provide a huge variation in size and shape of tusks and don't have them linked/requiring an undershot jaw. I'd like my character's face to look pretty normal like a human but the tusks would just be extra.